Elephant Kills Three People in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri District

Killing three people and damaging fields worth lakhs, the big tusker gave the villagers sleepless nights for days.
Burhaan Bashir
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Non-lethal darts were fired to tranquilise the elephant.
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(Photo courtesy: AP/Caters)
Non-lethal darts were fired to tranquilise the elephant.
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Video Editor: Purnendu Pritram

A deadly elephant encounter in Chinnar, a small Village of Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu, has recently unleashed terror among the locals. The pachyderm killed three people and damaged fields worth lakhs, giving villagers in the area sleepless nights.

Fearing further attacks, locals and the government officials went looking for the killer elephant.

Rajagopalan, a 70-year-old farmer, became the first victim of the big animal while he was working in his fields. The operation to nab the elephant acquired new urgency when he trampled two others shortly after.

In the recent years, human-animal encounters have increased. According to the report of comptroller and auditor general of India, out of 166 human deaths by animals 133 human were killed by elephants (2012-15).
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The elephant, who was part of the migratory herd from Sanamavu forests, was tracked by multiple teams under the supervision of the Conservator of forests Ulaganathan and District Forest Officer, Deepak S Bilgi.

For three consecutive days, villagers across the whole district along with forest officials stayed up in vigil to catch the rogue elephant. However, several attempts to chase the animal back into the forest failed.

Efforts used by locals and forest officials finally yielded better results. He was tracked down by his footprints and the ravaged fields he left behind.

Cornering the elephant in nearby Ramapuram village, non-lethal darts were fired to tranquilise the tusker. In a partially sedated condition, ropes and two bulldozers were used to push the elephant inside the truck to Biligudulu forest, away from human habitation.

Every year, these endangered animals are been brutally killed by poachers for their valuable tusks. India has a total number of 27,312 elephants left as per CAG census report.

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